Selfie hunters crowd Singur site

Singur, Sep 4 (IANS) Witnessing a frenzy of activities after having stood desolate for nearly eight years, the abandoned Tata Motors plant here in West Bengal’s Hooghly district is fast becoming a favourite with “selfie hunters”.

Following the Supreme Court’s verdict, the Mamata Banerjee government has been working on a war footing to initiate the process of returning the land to the farmers from whom it was taken for setting up a plant which was to roll out the ‘world’s cheapest car’- the Nano.

Since the apex court’s verdict, a large number of people have been visiting Singur – around 40 km from Kolkata – which was on the boil between 2006 and 2008 after the then Left Front government acquired 997.11 acres of land for setting up the small car factory.

“So far I have seen Singur only in headlines or on TV. With the court’s verdict now bringing the focus back, I couldn’t refrain myself from visiting,” said a man who along with his daughter took several selfies before the abandoned plant.

“Singur is synonymous to Mamata Banerjee’s struggle for the people. This plant is a symbol of the sufferings of the common people and their eventual triumph. Years from now when people will ask me, I can proudly say I was in Singur,” said another proudly clicking himself in front of the plant.

Meanwhile the administration continued carrying out the survey at a brisk pace, for initiating the process of returning the acquired land.

Besides installing watch towers and installing light towers to work at night, the administration has been using drone and GPS satellite mapping for aerial survey.

State Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee visited the site and supervised the survey work. He met District Magistrate Sanjay Bansal and Superintendent of Police Pravin Triptahi, who all are camping at the site.

“The way work is being carried out, I am very confident we will be able to hand over cultivable land to the farmers very soon,” said Mukherjee.

While the survey is to be completed within ten weeks, the Banerjee government has assured that the physical possession of cultivable land would be given to the land owners within the stipulated 12-week time frame.